"To think there'd come a day when I'd have to travel with the Fatui."
Sitting aboard a Fatui vessel cutting across the Liyue Sea, Lumine sighed, her gaze drifting over the waves.
For the sake of protecting Liyue's people, the Liyue Qixing had already issued a strict decree—
no one was allowed to set sail for Inazuma.
No merchants, no adventurers, no travelers.
Fear of the shogunate's isolation and the dark rumors surrounding it had spread like wildfire.
And so, in the absence of anyone else willing to go, the only ones daring enough to venture there now… were the Fatui.
Which left Lumine no choice but to hitch a ride with them.
"Don't sound so gloomy," Tartaglia chuckled from across the deck.
"The Fatui aren't all bloodthirsty villains, you know. Compared to the Abyss Order, we're practically saints."
He wasn't entirely wrong.
Everything was relative.
When measured against the Abyss, even the Fatui could look merciful.
After all, the Fatui were still human— the Abyssal cultists? Not so much.
"Heh…"
At the mention of the Abyss Order, Lumine's eyes dimmed.
Not long ago, she'd learned that her own brother might have joined them— and not as a mere follower, but a leader of some importance.
It was… complicated.
A traveler bound to the stars, yet somehow tied to the darkness beneath the world.
She tried to laugh it off, but couldn't help wondering whether she could—perhaps—order a few Abyss Mages around now.
"Traveler, what's your real reason for going to Inazuma?" Tartaglia asked suddenly.
"You planning to meet the Raiden Shogun? Or maybe Morax?"
"I'm going… to save someone."
At that, Lumine's expression twisted into pure despair.
A rescue mission.
Wonderful.
"Save someone? Who?"
Tartaglia tilted his head.
Who on earth in Inazuma could possibly need her help?
Morax was gone, sure—but even he wouldn't dare set foot there right now.
"Su Ran…"
Tartaglia blinked.
"Come again?"
Had he heard that right?
Save Su Ran?
That man didn't need saving.
If anything, people needed saving from him.
"You didn't hear? The Raiden Shogun's taken a liking to him. Says she's keeping him around to be her husband.
He asked me to go rescue him!"
Lumine crossed her arms, frowning.
Even she couldn't quite believe she was saying that out loud.
Tartaglia stared blankly for a few seconds.
"He's being held hostage… by the Shogun? As in, romantically?"
He burst into laughter.
"Now that's rich."
The Traveler looked at him with mild irritation.
"You mean to tell me you didn't know? You're a Harbinger, aren't you?
Shouldn't you at least know what's happening in your own organization?"
That shut him up for a moment.
He might've had the title of "Harbinger," but more and more it felt like he was just a glorified errand boy.
Maybe even… a spare part.
"Well, I do know about that," he admitted finally, rubbing the back of his neck.
"But honestly, with how powerful that man is, you sure he even needs rescuing?"
If the "Genius" so much as snapped his fingers, the Tsaritsa herself might march to Inazuma to fight the Raiden Shogun.
And now the Traveler was supposed to save him?
"He asked me personally," Lumine said, pulling out a small pouch.
"And he already paid the deposit."
"So that's what the six hundred thousand Mora were for…" Tartaglia muttered, realization dawning.
It all made sense now.
The "mission" was just part of another one of Su Ran's convoluted schemes.
The word plan alone made Tartaglia uneasy.
Back in Liyue, the Fatui's grand "plan" had turned into a running joke.
Half of their operations ended in chaos— and Su Ran always seemed to be in the middle of it.
"You do realize he's probably setting you up, right?"
"Even if he is," Lumine sighed, "what choice do I have?
You think I can refuse him?"
Just remembering Osial's death made her shudder.
She might be the Traveler— but she knew the difference between courage and suicide.
"Haha… yeah, probably not," Tartaglia said awkwardly.
"None of us could. Not even me."
He pulled out a crystalized amber core, pulsing faintly with Su Ran's energy.
His strongest trump card— a gift from the Genius himself.
"Even with this, I wouldn't dare cross him."
Meanwhile, inside Yae Publishing House in Inazuma, Yelan struggled to keep her composure as she looked at the woman before her.
Kamisato Ayaka.
The supposed dream-born Ayaka of this illusory Inazuma.
"She's not here?" Ayaka asked softly, glancing around the room.
"Neither the Yae Miko nor the Shogun?"
Her voice carried an undercurrent of disappointment.
Finally, she turned to the elegantly poised Yelan.
"Miss Yelan, do you happen to know where Lady Yae Miko or Her Excellency went?"
Yelan hesitated, lips tightening.
It was… awkward.
A prisoner standing before her captor in this endless dream— and yet both speaking as if everything were perfectly normal.
It made her chest ache.
Ever since realizing that this dream realm was unbreakable, Yelan had quietly given up trying.
At first, she had searched for an exit.
Then she'd settled for a desk and a steady paycheck.
Maybe this wasn't so bad.
A lifetime in a dream, at least with work to keep her busy.
"I'm not sure," she replied finally.
"They might be wandering the city… or visiting the Grand Narukami Shrine."
Ayaka tilted her head.
Yelan's tone wasn't her usual calm professionalism.
Something had changed.
"Miss Yelan," she asked gently, "are you… unhappy here?"
"...Kamisato Miss, I'm from Liyue."
Yelan's words were sharp and clipped.
She had wealth, connections, and freedom back home— why would she ever want to stay trapped in Inazuma, serving someone else?
"So you wish to return, then?"
That question hit like lightning.
Yelan's eyes flickered with a sudden, desperate hope.
"Do you… have a way?"
After so long, she didn't even dare to hope for rescue.
Survival itself felt like a blessing.
"No," Ayaka admitted, shaking her head.
"But I know this— the master of this dream… has returned."
Yelan froze.
That meant Su Ran had come back.
For the first time in weeks, the corner of her lips lifted ever so slightly.
A tiny spark of hope flickered back to life.
~~--------------------------------------
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